CSA Online Reduce Given the usual subject matter of this column, it may be hypocritical of me to suggest that we could all do with buying less consumer tech. I love this stuff and, if you regularly read the CSA Online column (thanks!), it’s fair to assume that you feel the same way. Maybe it’s not about buying less so much as it is about buying smarter. Maybe it’s as simple as supporting companies that focus on sustainable practices and ethical manufacturing. Maybe we just need to treat every buying decision as if it’s a big one. Reuse If a gadget has outlived its usefulness, it can continue its life as a hand-me-down. If you or someone you know is so inclined, an older smartphone can be turned into something new and useful. Just Google “uses for an old smartphone” to see some simple, smart ideas. There are numerous charities that will take older, but still useful tech and give it a new lease on life. Not-for-profit second-hand and thrift stores are an obvious and simple bet. A quick online search for donating whatever tech item you are trying to pass on will turn up myriad others. Recycle When a gadget is truly at the end of its useful life, whether it’s broken, not holding a charge or just plain obsolete, the easy thing to do is to toss it into the garbage. There’s a better way. Less than 16 per cent of e-waste was recycled in 2014, according to a United Nations University report. The outlook might be a little better today, but I can’t imagine that it’s by much. In some jurisdictions, there’s an environmental fee applied when you purchase something like a TV. This fee is collected to fund local landfill diversion and recycling programs of which we should all avail ourselves. In the case of cellphones, often the carrier will take a device that’s reached the end of its useful life and send it off to be recycled. Increasingly, gadget disposal and recycling boxes are appearing in major chains. IKEA and Best Buy immediately come to mind. We just need to seek them out. In the end, we vote for companies and the way they do business with our spending dollars. We choose what we support and what we don’t. We’re not passive consumers. We’re customers and we have a say in things. CSANews | SUMMER 2017 | 49
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